By Steve Neavling
A new Senate report blames the U.S. Secret Service for failing to prevent the 2024 assassination attempt on Donald Trump, pointing to a series of missed warnings, poor communication, and denials of added security despite growing threats, The Washington Post reports.
The yearlong investigation by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, chaired by Sen. Rand Paul, found that Trump’s security detail requested additional resources, including countersnipers, on multiple occasions ahead of the Butler, Penn., rally. Those requests, the committee says, were either ignored or mishandled.
Paul said the failures weren’t isolated, but part of a broader breakdown.
“Everyone pointed fingers at someone else,” he told Face the Nation, while accusing former Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle of misleading Congress when she testified that no requests had been denied. Cheatle, who resigned after the shooting, rejected the accusation and said she relied on internal reports when delivering her testimony.
The July 13 shooting left one bystander dead, two others critically injured, and narrowly missed killing Trump, who was grazed by a bullet near his ear. The gunman, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, had climbed onto a building outside the rally’s security zone and opened fire with a semi-automatic rifle before he was shot and killed by law enforcement.
The report criticizes the Secret Service for failing to share critical intelligence about a suspicious person spotted with a range finder ahead of the attack. A state police officer testified that he warned the Secret Service’s security room agent of a potential rooftop threat—but it’s unclear whether that information was relayed in time. The agent, who retired last month, told investigators he had no contact with local law enforcement and didn’t review their operations plans before the event.
The committee also questioned why that agent was never disciplined. Though six other agents were suspended without pay for up to 42 days, the report says the agency’s response lacked meaningful accountability.
Senators also revealed that the Secret Service had been aware of credible threats to Trump in the days leading up to the rally, including an alleged Iran-linked plot. Despite that, the committee said the agency failed to alert countersniper teams to the elevated risk. The Butler rally was the first time the Secret Service deployed countersnipers for a former president on the campaign trail.
Secret Service Director Sean Curran said the agency has since made internal changes and pledged to continue cooperating with the Senate committee. But lawmakers say the systemic failures exposed by the Butler shooting remain a concern heading into the next election.
